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I will no longer be posting here but you can come follow me on

thecentrolife.wordpress.com

Stealth Conference: Los w/ Mark Driscoll

Live .TV show provided by Ustream

Bands I like!

Tuesdays new special: Bands I like!

Today being a most beautiful day of reading and enjoying a mix of music from the amazing video ipod, I decided to let you all in on some of my favorite artists. Caution: I am no musical genius but feel I have a somewhat good taste in music. Call me vein or whatever but without further ado.

One of my favorite bands right now and for the past 3 years has been Annuals. If you click the link you will read: Annuals infuse their music with an array of intense emotions. As young as they are, Annuals draws influences from a diverse range of artists such as Mike Patton, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, Radiohead, the Beatles, Hank Williams Sr., Bjork and Aphex Twin. The mixing of styles, from electronic to folk to rock results in a totally singular sound. Reminiscent of high drama acts such as Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens, this musical collective appeals to both experimental and pop fans who appreciate well-produced material and artristry(Would have wrote my own review but this one said it best).

Check Them Out:
Annuals - Brother

Annuals - Carry Around

Annuals - Dry Clothes

Hope you enjoy! I'm plannin on seeing them live in San Diego for my Bday. So excited!

Monday's Scattered Thoughts

Today's Scattered Thoughts is something I have been thinking about for a while now. Four the better part of the last 3 or 4 years I have had quite an assortment of jobs. None of which I felt really connected to. You know those jobs that pay the bills but you know you hate doing it. Or you just feel no fullfillment. Well that has been me in past few years. But I am coming to a sort of crossroads in my thoughts, that it's not so much what I do to make money, it is the other things outside of that time (work time) that I am not doing (i.e. teaching, reading, exercising, learning, ect.). I dream job would be to do Spiritual Formation for a church/Marriage and Family Therapy. And when I get older I'd like to be a professor. Anywho I realized that with the vast years ahead of me my outlook needed a little tweak. The question I had to ask myself was, What are you doing now to do the things you want to? How are you going to get to that place? Well there is not really an answer for now, but a new/fresh perspective to move forward. So what have I done thus far? Well I am volunteering at church, nothing large but get myself plugged in and perhaps challenge myself in new roles. Also I have commited myself(I'm not very discplined in this area) to getting back into shape both physically and intellectually.
I am encouraged by the fact that I don't have it all together right now nor have I found the perfect plan of action but it is progression from yesterday and the day before that and so on and so on and so on....

What do you do find meaning in your life? What feeds your soul?

Emergent Church Forum

Last night Alex invited me to go with him to a forum on the Emergent Church @ Rancho Community Church. I was initially hesitant about going to this forum because I thought it would be very one sided and that it would just be an emergent church bashing. To my surprise it was very informative and respectfully done.
The first part of the forum was a powerpoint presentation on the basic beliefs of the "Emergent Conversation". It listed the good things that they do as well as the dangers that present themselves. I felt that the time frame given to study the Emergent Conversation wasn't given justice. To wrap up a synopsis of the movement in about 20 min can be dangerous. I understand the time constraints but still. I felt that with every arguement of what was dangerous, it was always compared to truth. Well what truth are specifically talking about? It was kind of lazy. Not everything that the emerging churches do or believe or are seeking is an attack on truth. For the second part of the forum it was open to questions and discussions. I didn't feel like there were any profound questions, just reservations about if their church was headed that way. Given the people that were there are predominantly uber conservative, there was still a large sense of ignorance. But I walked away with a tremendous respect for the leadership at Rancho. Although I did not completely agree with everything that was said, generalities being presented but all in all it was well rounded.
My fear (not spurred from this forum) that as we seek to inform ourselves of other practices of Christianity, we will only use such information to load our arsenal and point out why everyone else is wrong. Where's the love?

Feel free to comment on your thoughts of the emergent church.

The Artistic bug

I wish I were more artistic. Sometimes I get these ideas for a cool design or I just want to make something out of nothing, you know? I have always been interested in photography but not really driven/motivated plus I don't think I have an eye for it. I can be rather plain or dull. So in my attempt to have fun with my camera I took some pictures. It was fun, may not be the best but nonetheless it was fun.







I would love to learn how to do wood sculptures as well as have a pottery wheel. (You know like in the movie GHOST, HEY OH!)

Jami made a funny!

While we were in El Centro Jami had noticed this axe that was lying on the ground outside. We left to go out to eat at Burgers and Beer (OH YEAH!) and walked around the mall (still can't believe El Centro has a Mall). We finally got back a few hours later and as we near the door Jami looks down and says,"It's good to know the axe is still there!"
I love my wife!